Developer Eyes Windsor Castle Fields

January 14, 2004|By PATRICK LYNCH Daily Press

SMITHFIELD — A developer is eyeing the Windsor Castle cotton fields that once belonged to the founder of Smithfield for a new neighborhood that he sees as a modern but compatible extension of the Colonial-era downtown.

The development would mimic the architecture of downtown Smithfield and put into practice the ideas of "new urbanism" -- a wide price range in housing, pedestrian-friendly streets and a mix of offices, stores, apartments and houses. New urbanism borrows from the patterns of old neighborhoods, where people lived near their jobs and could often walk to work, and is the model for Port Warwick in Newport News.

FOR THE RECORD - Published correction ran Thursday, January 15, 2004.A headline on Wednesday's front page about a planned development in Smithfield incorrectly referred to condos. No condominiums are planned for the site, which would include 400 houses, 100 apartments, shops and offices. (Text deleted.)

Developer Lewis A. McMurran III, of McCale Development Corp., and planners with Urban Design Associates have not filed plans with town officials but are talking with community leaders and residents to share ideas and get feedback. They met with residents of nearby Jericho Estates and Jericho Lane on Tuesday night.

About 400 houses and 100 apartments would be built on 86 acres of the 186-acre property, which sits only about a half-mile from Main Street but is separated by a marshy creek. The main access to the property would be off the Route 10 Bypass, where an interchange already exists, but McMurran would like to build a walkway or a road across the marsh to connect with downtown.

The 186-acre parcel is the last remaining open space of 1,450 acres granted to Englishman Arthur Smith by King James in 1637. Arthur Smith IV carved out part of that land grant to found Smithfield in 1752.

Windsor Castle itself, the early 18th-century house of Arthur Smith IV, would be restored and surrounded by protected but public land, with walking trails and a boardwalk along Cypress Creek. McMurran said his plan would not call for filling any of the property's wetlands.

The house would be turned over to a foundation, which would maintain it and open it to the public. McMurran also wants to build an amphitheater into a grassy slope outside the house that for years was home to public concerts during the Olden Days festival on Memorial Day weekend.

The plan would likely take years to build out, but McMurran said if homes were going for sale today they would range from $150,000 to $1 million.

Windsor Castle owners Anne Betts Hooper and Charles Betts III, who inherited the property from their father, said they have turned down numerous offers from other developers who ignored their concern for protecting the house and the perfectly preserved outbuildings from its days as a farmhouse. Betts, who lives in North Carolina, said some proposals were "horrifying," including pitches to tear down the farm buildings and possibly even the house itself to make way for waterfront lots.

The property has been for sale for more than four years, Hooper said, and the sale to McMurran is not yet final. Hooper and Betts have been asking about $2.75 million.

Hooper, who lives in Maryland, said she and her brother were swayed by McMurran's and Urban Design Associates' plans.

"We were not going to go along with more of the suburban sprawl that you see everywhere," she said. Added Betts: "My pop, if he were still alive, I think he would be very pleased."

McMurran is holding a public meeting about the plans at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 29 at the Smithfield Center. After getting input, he will file plans for a rezoning with town officials. Most of the land is zoned agricultural. McMurran would need residential zoning, but he also wants to build a "town square," with 20,000 to 50,000 square feet of commercial and office space and potentially 20,000 square feet of building space for a new town hall and fire department.

The development comes at a time when Smithfield and Isle of Wight County face growing pains. Smithfield needs to expand its water system to support the new homes and businesses going up. The 500 units in McMurran's development would likely be home to hundreds of new public school students, and would require trash pickup and sewer service and put a greater strain on roads.

McMurran said he has not yet put together a cash proffer package to offset some of those costs, but noted that he would be paying for all the roadwork on the property, including about $2 million to complete the Route 10 Bypass interchange.

Smithfield Town Manager Peter M. Stephenson saw the plans for the first time on Monday and said he was impressed.

"Certainly it would be very compatible with the historic district, which is one of our biggest assets," Stephenson said. "Instead of us having to annex in another five years, it kind of made me think, 'Do we want to encourage more things like this, instead of us getting bigger and sprawling out?' It's a unique opportunity."

* Sits on a bluff overlooking the junction of the Pagan River and Cypress Creek.

* The 186-acre property was included in 1,450 acres deeded to Smith by King James of England in 1637.

* Listed on the Virginia Landmarks Register and National Register of Historic Places.

-- Compiled by staff researcher Kimberly Ettinger.

DEVELOPMENT PROPOSED FOR SMITHFIELD

McCale Development Corporation wants to develop a neighborhood based on the philosophy of "new urbanism" on the 186 acres that surround Windsor Castle, the home of Smithfield founder Arthur Smith IV. The plan would restore the Windsor Castle home and surround it with protected space. Plans call for 400 homes and apartments and a pedestrian link to downtown Smithfield. The homes' architecture also would be patterned after the historic homes of downtown Smithfield.

Patrick Lynch can be reached at 247-4534 or by e-mail at plynch@dailypress.com